LUCKNOW, July 22 -- The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet on Tuesday approved the transfer of 6,000 square metres of government land free of cost to the women welfare department for the construction of a 500-bed working women's hostel in Varanasi under the Chief Minister's Working Women's Hostel Scheme. The land, currently registered in the name of the Harijan industrial government (UP government), will be transferred to the women welfare department. The hostel will be built with 100% financial assistance from the state government. Finance minister Suresh Khanna said the proposal for Varanasi was approved by the Council of Ministers, adding that the state budget had made provisions for seven such hostels. Approvals have already been granted for hostels in Jhansi, Agra, Meerut and Gorakhpur. The scheme aims to provide safe, affordable and convenient accommodation for women employed in government, private and industrial sectors as the number of working women in the state continues to grow. The hostels will be operated by women welfare department on a 'non-commercial, no-profit, no-loss' basis to ensure affordable accommodation. The state government has been expanding hostel infrastructure to improve access to secure housing for working women, particularly in major urban centres where accommodation remains a challenge. Officials said the initiative is intended to encourage greater participation of women in the workforce by reducing housing-related concerns and providing a safe living environment close to their workplaces. The Cabinet also approved the construction of a 112-seat hostel for female students at Vasant Mahila Mahavidyalaya, a constituent college of Banaras Hindu University (BHU), at Rajghat Fort in Varanasi. Higher education minister Yogendra Upadhyay said the hostel would be built under the Accelerated Economic Development Scheme at a cost of Rs.248.30 lakh. htc...